CHAPTER 7
EDITED 7/16/21
"Hurry up, Ed, we're about to leave."
Edmund shook his head to get rid of his floating thoughts, quickly getting back to packing and distributing the weapons that Mary, Caspian, and some of the Narnians were able to steal from the Telmarines the night before. He had hoped Lucy didn't catch him staring at Mary. It had only been an hour since he overheard their conversation and he still couldn't stop thinking about it.
His eyes flitted back to the brunette who was speaking to a centaur named Glenstorm. She looked very engaged as if what the man was saying was interesting, which Edmund assumed was about Narnia. He noticed that Mary tried to learn more about Narnia from whoever she spoke to, and it was admirable. It must have been pressuring for her to be part of such a great prophecy all on her own. At least Edmund had his brother and sisters.
At one point, Mary felt as if someone was watching her. She tore her gaze away from Glenstorm and locked eyes with Edmund. She sent him a friendly smile but he looked flustered, almost as if he had gotten caught doing something he shouldn't have. Mary raised her eyebrows at his reaction but let it slide, going back to listening to Glenstorm as he spoke of how Narnia had been like during the invasion of the Telmarines.
Eventually, the camp had packed up and were set to leave. On the way to Aslan's How, Mary and Edmund strayed away from the serious subject of the coming battle and to lighter topics instead to get their minds off of things.
"Who do you think would win in a fight: Caspian or Reepicheep?"
"Caspian," Edmund said without hesitation. "He's bigger."
"Reepicheep would totally win," Mary shot back. "He told me some of his battle stories already."
"And you believe them?"
"He said he took down dozens of Telmarines when they were chasing Caspian and that he would've taken him too if he didn't realize he was on the good side."
"Sure," Edmund scoffed in disbelief.
"Would you like me to prove it, Your Highness?" a voice said from below. Edmund and Mary looked down to find Reepicheep walking in between them, though they didn't know for how long.
"No need for that, Reep," Mary answered dramatically. "I'd hate to see Edmund lose terribly."
Edmund glared at the girl while she laughed and as Reepicheep smiled gratefully at her.
"I must say, you are my favorite by far," Reepicheep told her with a little bow. He scurried away to walk next to the others, but not before letting staring at Edmund for a moment, making the boy slightly uncomfortable.
"I think he dislikes me now," he said once the rat was out of earshot. "I bet the only reason he's not attacking me right now is because I'm a king."
"Well, it's not my fault you underestimated him," Mary told him, ducking as they passed under a particularly low thicket of trees and her hair almost getting caught in the leaves.
"I wouldn't have if I knew he was there," Edmund grumbled.
"Still underestimating him."
Mary found Edmund staring at her once they had arrived at a clearer path. She looked around, wondering if he was staring at something behind her before facing him once more with a frown.
"What are you looking at?" she asked slowly, stopping in her tracks.
Edmund blinked and shook his head, saying, "Sorry, there's a, uh, leaf in your hair."
He halted in his steps too, reaching forward to remove the leaf. He was extremely close to her, probably more than necessary. His hand hovered on her hair even after the leaf was gone, though, just barely touching her face. His eyes lingered on her face, too. Mary gulped, wondering what had gotten into him. His gaze was making her feel all weird on the inside — she had butterflies, if she wanted to be honest with herself, but she didn't want to admit that. She had always found his eyes piercing from the day she met him, and she found herself focusing on them. Her mind was telling her to look away to break the tension, but she couldn't.
"Edmund, Mary."
The two teenagers snapped out of their daze, looking behind them to see that Susan had called their attention.
"You're sort of... blocking the way," she older girl explained, both feeling awkward and guilty that she interrupted them.
"Oh," was all Mary said while Edmund cleared his throat, taking a step away from her.
The few Narnians with Susan whispered curiously amongst each other as they went ahead of the two of them. Susan smiled in amusement, glancing behind her to find the two still walking together, though with a little bit of awkwardness in the air.
"Well, it's good you have troops," Mary overheard Peter telling Caspian. "But we need some fortifications. Somewhere to train."
"How much time would we have to train?" Mary asked Edmund curiously.
"Not much," he admitted. "You've seen the Telmarines. They're prepared."
"That's a shame. I wanted to learn how to properly sword-fight."
"You still can," Edmund said almost too quickly, jumping at the opportunity. "I'll teach you."
"Really? I guess we'll see if your siblings are right, then. About you being an excellent fighter," Mary challenged, though she really was excited to learn.
After hours of walking, the group had arrived at a wide field. A hill was located at the end of it with a cave-like, rock formation underneath it. But, that wasn't what caught Mary's eyes. It was the rows of centaurs holding up their swords in respect, creating a path all the way up to the entrance of Aslan's How. Caspian allowed the Pevensie's to walk first, and Mary followed his actions. They soon made it inside. It was dark and noisy as Narnians of all kinds created, sharpened, and polished their weapons. It seemed to finally sink in to Mary that a war between the Narnians and Telmarines was inevitable.
"It might not be what you are used to, but it is defensible," Caspian said.
Susan, who had strayed away for a moment, said, "Peter, you may want to see this."
Curiously, Peter along with the other Pevensie's, Mary, and Caspian, walked over to Susan. She was observing the carvings on the wall, the lit torch she held faintly illuminating them. The walls were filled with drawings depicting two men and two women, clearly the Pevensie's as the kings and queens of Narnia.
"It's us."
"What is this place?" Lucy asked.
"You don't know?" Caspian said. Taking her silence as an answer, he picked up another torch and lead them through another dark tunnel. At the end of it, he lit a fire that spread around the room, revealing more carvings of Narnians and a lion who Mary now knew must be Aslan. What Mary didn't know anything about was the cracked table in the center.
"What's that?" she asked no one in particular.
"It's the Stone Table," said Lucy in realization, glancing back and forth at it and the large embossment of Aslan on the wall.
"Where the White Witch supposedly killed him," Susan explained further. By then, Mary had been told of how Aslan sacrificed himself and was supposedly killed, but he resurrected because of the Deep Magic.
"He must know what he's doing."
"I think it's up to us, now," Peter said, looking at each of his siblings. Locking eyes with Mary last, he emphasized, "All of us."
✧ ✧ ✧
Since the Pevensies and Mary had finally arrived at Aslan's How, it was the perfect time for them to gather with the Narnians and plan something bigger.
"It's only a matter of time," Peter said, walking in a circle. "Miraz's men and war machines are on their way. That means those same men aren't protecting the castle."
"What do you propose we do, Your Majesty?" Reepicheep asked.
"We —"
"Our —"
Caspian and Peter look at one another, having both cut each other off. Mary glanced between the two of them, wondering who would back down. In the end, Caspian did.
"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us," Peter continued.
"But that's crazy. No one has ever taken that castle," Caspian said immediately, furiously shaking his head.
"There always a first time."
"We'll have the element of surprise," Trumpkin added, agreeing with the High King.
"But we have the advantage here," Caspian tried.
"If we dig in, we could probably hold them indefinitely," Susan added.
"He has a point." The Pevensie's looked at Mary in surprise, not expecting her to speak up. "We have all our weapons here and know how to fight better here."
"Whose side are you even on?" Peter questioned.
"What side? We're all on the same side here, aren't we? This isn't about whether you or Caspian are taking the lead, as far as I've been told. It's about winning this war, right?" Mary retorted, not holding herself back. Edmund was shocked, to say the least. While he was impressed at her guts and determination, he unfortunately agreed with his brother's idea.
Peter shut up at Mary's words, though. He was angered but knew that she had read him correctly. He still didn't agree with her opinion, though.
"I, for one, feel safer underground," Trufflehunter spoke up.
"Look, I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress," Peter said to Caspian. "It's a tomb."
"Yes," Edmund backed him up. "And if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out."
"We could collect nuts!" offered Pattertwig, a squirrel.
"Yes, and throw them at the Telmarines! Shut up!" Reepicheep said sarcastically before turning back to Peter. "I think you know where I stand, Sire."
Mary slumped in her seat, knowing that the majority was agreeing with Peter. She knew she didn't have any experience with battling or making strategies, but was just worried that things would go wrong.
Peter sighed and turned to face Glenstorm, the centaur.
"If I can get your troops in, can you handle the guards?"
Glenstorm stop up straighter. "Or die trying, my liege," he said.
"That's what I'm worried about," Lucy said from the side.
"Sorry?" Peter asked.
"Well, you're all acting like there are only two options: dying here, or dying there."
"I'm not sure you've really been listening, Lu."
"No, you're not listening. Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch, Peter?" Lucy retorted.
Peter paused for a few seconds.
"I think we've waited for Aslan long enough."